


Kisses For Kurt

by blaindersonkummel



Category: Glee
Genre: Childhood Friends, M/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-08
Updated: 2014-04-08
Packaged: 2018-04-04 00:46:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4120348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blaindersonkummel/pseuds/blaindersonkummel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every year on Kurt's birthday, his mother has a special tradition. But how will it continue after she's gone?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kisses For Kurt

**Author's Note:**

> View on Tumblr [here](http://blaindersonkummel.tumblr.com/post/82100113374/klaine-fic-kisses-for-kurt).

Blaine Anderson was seven years old when his neighbour, Elizabeth Hummel, fell ill. His mother told him she would get very sick and, most likely, not get any better. Blaine understood what this meant - even at a young age - but he wasn’t quite sure he would ever be ready to face something like that when that day eventually came.

Kurt Hummel was eight when he found out his mommy was sick. It was the horrible cherry on top of the cake of his life at the time. He had no friends, no siblings, and a father struggling to manage everything at once. Their lives were difficult. The closest thing Kurt had to a friend was the boy next door, and they’d only ever spoken a few times and had one play date together. But this was the day everything was about to change.

On this particular day, there was a knock on the door and Kurt instinctively got up to answer it. When he opened it he was faced with two very solemn-looking people.

 

“Hello Kurt, dear,” said the woman in a soft tone he had never heard her use before.

“Hi, Mrs Anderson. Hi Blaine.” Kurt looked down from the mother’s concerned face to her son – every bit the likeness of her except for the very triangular eyebrows he sported. Blaine was holding a plate of cookies and acting very sheepishly, as though he might break Kurt just by looking at him.

“May we come in?” Mrs Anderson asked, having had no invitation from Kurt.

Breaking contact with Blaine’s sad eyes, he moved aside and let them into the house, directing them towards the kitchen to meet his father. When they got there, Burt Hummel was slumped on the kitchen table with his cap in his hand, rubbing over his red-rimmed eyes. Mrs Anderson simply sighed and crossed the room to envelop him in a hug as he deflated at the touch.

“How is she?” Mrs Anderson asked, even softer than before.

“She’s… as good as she can be. She’s just resting in bed for the moment,” Burt said, suddenly noticing Kurt and Blaine’s presence.

“Say boys, why don’t you go play for a while so we can talk a bit, yeah?”

Kurt wasn’t stupid, he didn’t need to be babied, but he also understood this to mean that he and Blaine were just not mature enough to be involved in the conversation. He had been watching Blaine this whole time, holding the plate of cookies in a death-like vice grip and staring at a spot on the wall, clearly still trying to avoid the elephant in the room.

“Yeah Dad, that’s fine. We can take some lunch outside if you like, Blaine.”

It was a cheap shot, but Kurt was feeling particularly vulnerable today. He wanted companionship for a few hours, even if it didn’t mean anything. Soon he would have to learn to be even more alone, but it was nice to pretend for a while.

Blaine’s head whipped around to face Kurt and he gave a quick nod and a tiny smile of encouragement. That smile was enough to warm Kurt’s heart enough in the time it took to collect the food and place it on a tray, nudging Blaine in the arm to follow him with the cookies.

They walked through the house in silence until they reached the patio door and Blaine stopped abruptly, holding on to Kurt’s arm.

“I really am sorry, Kurt. I don’t want your mommy to be sick. I know we’re not exactly friends, but I’ll play with you every day if you’re lonely. You can just knock on my door and I’ll be there. I mean it.”

It was everything Kurt had ever wanted, but in the worst circumstances. He really liked Blaine. He just assumed, since they never had many play dates, that he wasn’t liked in return. Before he could dwell on it, however, he had set the tray down and pulled the other boy into a hug. Kurt was never one for showing affection, but after the day he’d had he just liked to hold someone close. And Blaine was a really great hugger, so that was a bonus.

“Thank you,” Kurt said as he broke the hug and bent to pick up the tray. He smiled and turned to the door leading to the garden, “shall we?”

And that was the first of many play dates the two boys shared for months, instantly becoming best friends and kindred spirits. Blaine was a good distraction for Kurt, and Kurt really did share a lot of Blaine’s interests. And then one day changed everything again. For Burt, that day was especially sad to see his son crying into his best friend’s shoulder at his wife’s funeral. Her grieving friends and family had all come to terms with her inevitable death, but it was still hard. It was still a horrible feeling of drowning Burt got whenever he looked up and saw the two boys huddled in the corner of the room with Blaine stroking Kurt’s hair as he cried– just like Elizabeth used to.

—————

It was two months after she died that Kurt experienced a moment of sincerely missing something about his mother. It was the day before his ninth birthday, and as happy as the occasion should have been, it was a horrible reminder of who would be missing on that day.

Just as Kurt was sitting on his bed, thinking this over, there was a knock on his door.

“Kurt? It’s me. Can I come in?” Blaine gently pushed the door open and smiled as soon as he saw his best friend.

“You’re dad said to just come straight up and… here I am!” Blaine beamed as he held his mock jazz-hands just like he’d seen some of the old movie stars do in the Hollywood musicals he loved so much.

Kurt couldn’t help but huff out a small laugh, but there was clearly something wrong, and he knew his best friend would notice immediately.

As if on cue, Blaine’s face dropped and he asked in all seriousness, “What’s wrong?”

Kurt sighed and shifted a bit, facing Blaine, but with his head hanging down to look at his lap.

“I just really miss her, today.”

“Oh.”

There was an awkward pause where Blaine didn’t quite know what to say to comfort his friend. He was only eight, after all.

“It’s just… it’s silly.”

Kurt went to turn away and Blaine put a hand on his arm, just like he had all those months ago.

“Hey, no, it’s okay. You can tell me. What is it?”

Kurt sighed and tried again, “Well, it’s just… Every year on my birthday, I’d get my presents, and I’d have my cake, and we’d play tons of games. But my favourite part was always the same thing - when my mom would give me my birthday kiss. She would sing me ‘Happy Birthday’ and finish every time with a kiss on the cheek. But I’ll never get that again now.”

Kurt had gone slightly flushed at his confession, and he seemed to have welled up with tears as he read Blaine’s face for any signs of confusion or judgement.

“Kurt, that’s not silly at all. That’s actually really wonderful that you mom would do that for you.”

He reached out and put his hand on Kurt’s crossed legs, hoping that the contact would make him feel better, but after a minute he still looked pretty upset.

“Okay, so what if I do it?”

The words were out of Blaine’s mouth before he’d even thought about them, but this seemed like the absolute best solution to make his best friend happy again, and that was really all that mattered.

“Do what?”

“Give you your birthday kiss, silly.”

“You mean… really?”

Kurt flushed even darker this time but when Blaine looked back encouragingly, Kurt nodded and simply said, “yeah. I would really like that, actually.”

So Blaine turned his body fully onto the bed, crossing his legs just like Kurt, and grabbed hold of both the other boy’s hands. Kurt looked slightly shocked at this addition to the plan, but he wasn’t one to protest. So Blaine sang. He wasn’t an amazing singer, but Kurt could tell that in years to come, he really could be just like one of those Hollywood musical stars Blaine loved so much. It was mesmerising to listen to, he almost forgot the thing to come. It wasn’t until Blaine leant forward and placed his lips to Kurt’s cheek that he registered what had happened.

The boy pulled away and smiled, slightly pink in the face as he said those three little words, “Happy Birthday, Kurt”.

—————

So it became a tradition. Every year, the boys would run up to Kurt’s bedroom on his birthday and Blaine would sing his song and give him a kiss. Some years Kurt would cry and Blaine would just hug him when he missed his mom. But as the years went on, Kurt stopped feeling so numb to the tradition, and he really valued this new one he had created with his best friend. But then his sophomore year of high school came and everything changed.

He was gay. A part of him had known something was different for a long time, but it was only now that he could fully understand what that meant. It was only when he realised he had feelings for his best friend that he was officially doomed forever.

He couldn’t tell Blaine – that would be way too much to handle – a coming out and a declaration of love. But he should do something. He could just be honest about who he was. So that’s what he did, a month before his 16th birthday, he said those two words to Blaine (“I’m gay.”) that were followed up with the very last words Kurt thought he’d ever hear: “Me too.”

Kurt wasn’t sure if this made things ten times better or worse now. Sure, they’d always been touchy-feely and affectionate for years now, but would that change with the knowledge that something more could be dwelling beneath the surface of their relationship? Kurt didn’t want to lose Blaine – that was for certain. And it really did help knowing he wasn’t going to go through this alone. So maybe nothing should change between them and they could continue just being themselves. In theory.

Kurt wouldn’t call himself a nervous person, per se, but as the days drew closer to his birthday, he couldn’t help but think about what would happen this year. Would it be any different now there was a possible tension there? Would Blaine just not go through with his birthday kiss and pretend to forget the tradition? The thing was, Kurt didn’t want to forget. Since he was little, that kiss had always been the best part of his birthday and the one special connection he shared with his best friend and his mother. He would just have to wait and see.

Then the day came. He woke up, got dressed, came downstairs and found his dad buried beneath a pile of presents.

“Happy birthday, kiddo!” came Burt’s voice from the pile.

Kurt couldn’t help but giggle as he set about unwrapping the gifts as quickly as possible so as to not be late for school. After half an hour, a pile of new items sat on the table with a very pleased-looking Kurt. It was then that Burt leant across to the table and handed him one last thing: an envelope. Kurt looked at his father blankly before taking the letter in his hands.

“What’s this?”

“So, about 8 years ago, I was given this by someone very special and was told not to deliver it until this exact date. And here we are. It’s for you.”

Kurt looked down at the paper and realised his hands were shaking slightly. His name was scrawled along the front of the envelope in blue ink and although he hadn’t seen that handwriting in a long time, he would recognise it anywhere. He looked at his dad, then back down at the letter, and that was it. Before he knew it, the letter was stuffed in his school bag and he was heading out the door.

“I’m going to be late for school, Dad. I’ve got to go. Thanks for breakfast.”

Kurt’s flowing scarf was the last thing Burt saw of Kurt as he hurried through the door and shut it behind him, not turning back to see his father’s disbelieving look.

—————

Kurt didn’t like running out on his dad like that, but the letter was a big shock. The weight of it in his bag felt like it was physically pulling at his shoulder as he walked in to school. There was only one person who would know what to do and Kurt was about to find him.

Kurt walked to Blaine’s locker every morning to meet him before class started, but when he got there today, Blaine was nowhere around. This was particularly odd since Blaine was always early for everything. Just then Kurt saw Tina Cohen-Chang walk past, one of Blaine’s classmates, so he stopped her to ask if she’d seen him. The answer he got was even more disappointing than he could have imagined.

“He’s not here, today. Think he called in sick.”

That was even weirder. Blaine was never sick. And if he was, why hadn’t he texted Kurt? Kurt thought it was odd enough to not even have a “happy birthday” text from Blaine that morning, but he’d just assumed that meant there would be an even bigger celebration at school from his best friend. Now, instead, he had to face the day alone. This would be hell.

—————

Of course, with Blaine as his only real friend, his birthday spent at school was like personal torture. That’s why Kurt was so grateful to finally get home, lay down on his bed and just sleep it off. That’s when he saw it poking out of his bag: the letter. With all the stress about Blaine and school, he’d totally forgotten it was there. As he’d had some time to process this new revelation, Kurt suddenly felt ready to take this step and open the envelope.

He had never been so nervous over something so silly before, but as he looked around his room, one glance at a photograph of his mother on the desk was all he needed to tear off the paper and start reading.

_Hi Kurtsie,_

_So, today is the big day – 16. It’s a strange age, I’ll tell you now. It’s a time for growing up, learning about yourself, and finding out who you really want to be. I’m just sorry I can’t be there to see it. I’m also sorry I’ve had to miss every birthday before now. Mostly, I’m sorry I’ll never get to see you grow up. I’m sure you’re all big and brave and handsome now – just like your father._

Kurt already had tears in his eyes as a watery laugh escaped him.

_I hope you have friends and family who love you, and a space you can really feel safe in. That’s all I want for you, honey. Whoever you want to be, I believe in you. I’d like to think I know you well enough at this point to predict a few things happening in your life right now. Just know that if and when you find love in people, you’ve got to just take it. Seize the day and put yourself out on the line like the strong, courageous boy I know. You never know what life will bring you and you shouldn’t live to regret the things you should have done. I don’t regret anything, by the way. I got everything I ever needed – an amazing husband and a beautiful son._

_I’m especially sorry I haven’t been there to give you your birthday kisses all these years. All I can hope for is that you find someone as open and loving as you who can take that job from me forever, because you deserve the world._

_I’ll always be with you. All my love,_

_Mom x_

Kurt didn’t realise he was crying until he felt his entire body pulled into a tight embrace and his hair being stroked as a soothing voice filled his ears. Instantly, his pain subsided slightly as he looked up into Blaine’s enormous, teary eyes as he sang a slow and peaceful rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ – just like he did every year. Kurt’s heart was beating double time as he remembered the words in his mother’s letter. She must have known about him. She must have had mother’s intuition for this sort of thing. And she must have known that Kurt’s true soulmate would be the one person who would never try to replace her, but want nothing more than to care for Kurt.

Blaine’s singing died out as he finished the last line of the song and Kurt suddenly realised he was no longer crying or rocking and their faces were mere inches apart. There was a spark of something in the air and before he knew it, they both moved at once, pressing their lips so tightly together, nothing could break them. After a while, they eventually separated and Blaine was breathless as he held onto Kurt’s cheeks and stroked his thumb along the cheekbone.

“I’m sorry Kurt. This wasn’t planned, I promise. I just- I came upstairs to see you and then I saw you were so upset and I originally came to let you know how I really feel and I made myself worried sick about seeing you on your birthday because I knew what that meant and I’d have to kiss you and I couldn’t do that without telling you I’m in love with you and I was about to tell you everything but then you were here and you had the letter and… I don’t know what to say.”

Blaine just froze as Kurt looked blankly at him for a moment. Kurt then slowly slid Blaine’s hands from his cheeks and instead held them between his own.

“I’m in love with you too, Blaine. I have been for a while now. I just think that in this moment, i really needed to seize the day and start the rest of my life.”

Then he was leaning forwards again. And if his first real kiss was wonderful, it was nothing compared to the electricity and fire he felt from the second kiss he shared with his best friend – a best friend who would go on to deliver every birthday kiss to Kurt for years and years to come.


End file.
